How To Manage Instagram Privacy Settings

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a free photo and video sharing application, Owned by social media giant Facebook.

This social networking app has become the most popular application in the current times for image and video sharing with followers or with a select group of friends and family.

Account Privacy on Instagram

Just like any other social media platform, You are constantly in the public domain on your social networking app, Anyone can find and access what you post.

This is no different in Instagram, Where anyone can view your profile and images and videos you post, as well as can follow you. Therefore it becomes critical to control how you use your Instagram account and define who can follow you and view your profile and posts. These settings can be efficiently and easily optimize through the Account Privacy feature within your Instagram account.

How to Manage Privacy Settings in Instagram?

When you create your Instagram account and start posting images and videos, the applications by default set your posts as ‘public’. So, any Instagram user can see what you post by searching for your username or by finding in the feed. By following certain important security settings, you can easily limit the viewers to your posts. Here’s how you need to manage privacy in your Instagram account:

1- Switch to Private Account

For your Android devices :

Open the Instagram application from your device’s home screen.

Tap the ‘Profile’ button by going to the bottom right corner. The ‘Profile’ button icon is in the form of a human silhouette.

Go to the top right corner, where you will find the settings icon (on Android this is a three-dot vertical icon). Tap on this icon.

The settings page will present multiple options. Scroll down to the bottom. Tap on ‘Private Account’ switch. This icon will turn blue, ensuring your account is now private and your posts will be viewed only by your followers.

For Laptops and Desktops :

2- Similar Account Suggestions (Desktops Only)

When someone taps Follow on your Instagram profile, they’ll see suggestions of similar profiles they might also want to follow, such as mutual friends or other people they might know. If you don’t want these suggestions to appear on your profile, you can opt out:

Log into Instagram.com from a desktop computer or your phone’s browser.

Tap or click profile icon in the top right, then select Edit Profile.

Tap or click next to Similar Account Suggestions, then click Submit.

3- Activity Status & Story Sharing (Desktops Only)

People you follow or have direct conversations with can see when you were last active on Instagram. You can change the visibility of your activity status at any time.

To change the visibility of your activity status:

Go to your profile and tap on menu.

Tap Settings ➡ Privacy and Security.

Disable Activity Status or Allow Sharing.

Keep in mind that when you turn off your activity status, you won’t be able to see anyone else’s.

Some Important Tips to Manage Privacy of Your Instagram Account

Make sure to include only the necessary details in your Instagram profile, and not divulge too much information to keep your personal data safe.

Instagram pins your photos to a map when you post them which are available to view by anyone following you. This exposes details about where you are, including your home address. This is something that you may not be comfortable with. Therefore make sure to not include your photos in Instagram’s Map feature. You can do this by not checking ‘Add to your Photo Map’ message from Instagram on the final confirmation page when you are posting.

If you want to make your post secure and make them available to be viewed only by a select few then you can leverage the ‘Instagram Direct’ feature. Tap on the ‘Direct’ feature on the final conformation page when posting, and pick the follower from the list to share your photo only with them.

Managing your privacy following this guide will help you feel more secure and keep your images and videos away from unwanted peeping eyes.